Floriography: Say It with Flowers

Picture it. A man enters your shop in desperate need of a bouquet. He’s dating a wonderful woman and he wants to send her a bouquet that says he’s enjoying spending time with her, but he doesn’t want her to get the impression that he’s getting serious too quickly. Can you help him?

Luckily, you know your floriography, the language or flowers. Floriography’s popularity soared in the Victorian era, when flowers and plants were used to express feelings that couldn’t be spoken aloud in polite society, but it’s still in use today by flower aficionados.

Whoops, your floriography is a little rusty? No worries. Here are the meanings behind flowers likely to be found in your shop (since they’re SAF’s top-selling flowers). Armed with this knowledge, you’ll have no problem creating the perfect bouquet for your customer.

RosesIn general, roses represent love, but each color sends a different message. Red roses signify romance; pink represents love, gratitude and appreciation; white traditionally represents marriage, new beginnings and remembrance and yellow is used to convey friendship. Since your customer doesn’t want to give his new lady the wrong impression, you might want to steer him away from coral-colored roses for now, since they represent desire!

CarnationsCarnations signify fascination and devoted love. However, you should probably discourage your customer from sending striped carnations, as these typically represent refusal, and yellow carnations, which signify rejection and disdain. How about some nice light red blooms, which represent admiration? (If this bouquet goes over well, he might eventually be coming back for dark red carnations, which signify deep love and affection.)

ChrysanthemumsChrysanthemums, in general, are a safe pick. They signify cheerfulness, abundance, wealth and appreciation of one’s friendship. Just stay away from yellow chrysanthemums, which represent slighted love!

AlstroemeriaAlstroemeria symbolizes wealth, prosperity and fortune as well as a bond between two people. Who wouldn’t want some of that in a relationship?

TulipsYou might not guess it from looking at them, but tulips can convey some rather saucy sentiments. Red tulips can be seen as a declaration of love, variegated tulips tell the recipient she has beautiful eyes and yellow turnips signify a sunny smile.

LiliesWhen it comes to lilies, there are once again as many meanings as there are variations. In general, lilies represent honor and purity of heart and calla lilies signify beauty.

OrchidsOrchids symbolize refined and exquisite beauty. They’re a testament to adoration, desire and loving respect. In other words, you really can’t go wrong by sending an orchid.

There you have it! Now all that’s left to do is cross your fingers and hope that your gentleman customer will remember your dedication to helping him get it just right when he and his future fiancée are choosing flowers for their wedding!

About Mercury Messenger

The Mercury Messenger is the official blog dedicated to delighting and inspiring FTD Member Florists, the backbone of FTD. For more than 100 years, the FTD florist network has stood for quality, creativity and worldwide floral delivery. This blog celebrates the artisan florist and shares valuable information to help further their education and grow their local business.